The USDA study predicts nearly 58,000 job openings annually through 2020 in food, agriculture, natural resources and environmental fields – and not nearly enough college graduates to fill them. For more information visit www.capitalpress.com
Several environmental groups have filed a legal complaint claiming that USDA sheep research in Idaho disrupts the recovery of threatened grizzly bears. The environmentalists allege that the U.S. Sheep Experiment Station near Dubois, Idaho, has become a "black hole for carnivores."
An eagerly awaited report about endangered species has managed the rare feat of pleasing both environmentalists and the pesticide industry. The National Academy of Sciences report examines processes used by federal agencies to evaluate the risk that pesticides pose to protected species.
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A settlement deal between government agencies and environmentalists over forest species sidestepped the public rule-making process, according to a federal appeals court.
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Capital Press reporter Mateusz Perkowski and soon-to-be-former copy editor Will Koenig talk about fiscal cliff strategies and the increasingly complicated court battle over Clean Water Act permits on logging roads in their 78th and final podcast. Adieu!
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Pesticide manufacturers recently tried to persuade a federal appeals court to overturn restrictions against spraying several common pesticides near waterways. The controversy relates to a 2008 finding by the National Marine Fisheries Service that chlorpyrifos, diazinon and malathion jeopardize West Coast salmon species that are protected under the Endangered Species Act. Read more at CapitalPress.com
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In this podcast, editors and reporters look at the upcoming federal trial of two ranchers charged with arson on public lands, EPA’s deregulation of runoff on logging roads, and what some rural Californians are calling an illegal tax to fund fire suppression efforts.
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In this podcast, editors and reporters discuss a family farm that’s invented a better apple, the global thirst for new dairy-based beverages, a legal ruling that may dramatically limit the use of antibiotics in livestock, the science of long-term weather patterns and the latest legal settlement between an environmental group and federal agencies.
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From the Congressional Western Caucus:
Today, the Obama Administration released a draft “Clean Water Protection Guidance.” This guidance document dramatically expands federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act. The draft released today was a subtly revised version of an initial draft that received significant opposition.
“This is another attempt by the Administration to circumvent the proper process to implement its job-killing policies. It is clear that even the Obama Administration acknowledges it was significantly overreaching with their initial proposal. Unfortunately, the Obama Administration continues their war on western jobs under the guise of a ‘non-binding’ policy,” said Western Caucus Chairman Steve Pearce.
“They started by going after lands with the egregious ‘Wild Lands’ policy and now they are going after water by expanding federal jurisdiction with this guidance. The Administration continues to set a dangerous precedent by circumventing the proper procedures and showing a total disregard for western jobs by its continued push to implement job killing policies,” continued Pearce.
The ‘guidance’ will substantively change federal policy with respect to which waters fall under the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act and significantly increase the scope of the federal government’s power to regulate waters. It will significantly expand the federal government regulatory reach on private property.
Legislative attempts to expand this authority were met with strong bipartisan resistance in previous Congresses. Last week, a bipartisan letter signed by 170 Members of Congress was sent to the EPA and Army Corp of Engineers expressing serious concerns about the Clean Water Act Guidance and the expansion of federal jurisdiction without following the proper rulemaking process.
A judge has finalized his earlier interim decision invalidating California Department of Fish and Game-issued permits to irrigators in two rural Northern California valleys.
San Francisco Superior Court Judge Ernest Goldsmith last week reiterated his opinion that the DFG’s special permit program for water diversions wasn’t set up according to state environmental laws.
The decision upholds a preliminary ruling by Goldsmith in February that effectively suspended the controversial permitting program, which had drawn fire from both conservationists and irrigators.
“The judge has essentially remanded it back to the agency to do it right and fix it, and they can do that,” said Glen Spain, northwest regional director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations.
For more, check CapitalPress.com soon.
From the California Cattlemen's Association:
Sacramento, Calif. – As Earth Day arrives tomorrow, April 22, California ranchers will be celebrating their way of life. Moreover, it is an important time for everyone to stop and consider where their food comes from and what the hardworking people in production agriculture are doing to ensure that food for the world’s 7 billion people is grown in our state, today and in the future.
According to California Cattlemen’s Association President Kevin Kester, a life long rancher from Parkfield, Calif., California beef producers are found in every part of the Golden State – and they are doing more than just providing steaks and burgers.
“Ranchers serve many important purposes – from caring for the land, water and environment to providing food for people worldwide. Because they live off the land, ranchers are caring stewards of the land and environment,” Kester said, “Beef producers also believe that giving animals the humane care, proper handling and nutrition they deserve is an obligation, not an option. We love what we do, the animals we raise and the land that supports our way of life.”
Ranchers and cattle are also great managers of the state’s expansive open space. Rangeland cattle grazing provides habitat for many endangered species. If California’s open space continues to be converted into shopping plazas and housing developments, many species of wildlife may cease to exist. Research has shown that nearly all of the species of grassland birds, most native plants and a variety of large and small wildlife actually benefit from responsible cattle grazing.
Thanks, in part, to California ranchers, Americans know a quality of life that many people around the globe unfortunately do not. However, if regulations and lack of consumer support continue to erode, the scenario could greatly change.
Eating beef is more than just enjoying a delicious food with a rich supply of nutrients that are not provided by other foods. By eating beef, consumers are not just doing something good for their bodies, they are supporting a way of life that is good for Mother Nature and good for California. Ranchers are proud of their product – so proud that the beef they supply to consumers is the same beef they put on their own family’s table.
This Earth Day, California ranchers hope all Americans will appreciate the good that cattle ranching and agriculture does for the land and be thankful that they live in a place where safe food is abundantly raised for their benefit and the stewardship that ranchers provide for their livestock and the environment will help maintain quality of life that has existed for generations.
For more information about the California beef industry and the positive impacts ranchers have on the environment, visit www.calcattlemen.org and www.carangeland.org.
Western Republicans seem pleased with the fact that the budget deal reached over the weekend apparently blocks funding for the Obama administration's "Wild Lands" initiative, which many had considered detrimental to public lands ranchers and rural communities.
The Congressional Western Caucus issued this press release today:
Washington, D.C. – Today, Western Caucus Chairman Stevan Pearce (R-NM) released the following statement regarding language included in H.R. 1473, the final budget bill for fiscal year 2011, which will prohibit the Department of the Interior from using taxpayer money to fund the controversial Wild Lands initiative:Separately, Rep. Rob Bishop, chairman of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee that oversees Public Lands, stated:
“The ‘Wild Lands’ proposal issued by Secretary Salazar last December was another attempt by the Obama Administration to circumvent congressional authority in the Administration’s ‘War on Western Jobs.’ It would have had tremendous negative impacts on job creation, energy production and recreation throughout the West and its defunding is a victory for all western states.
“On behalf of the Congressional Western Caucus, I would like to thank Speaker Boehner for ensuring this key provision was included in the final negotiated bill. Speaker Boehner and Republican leadership understand that there is a ‘War on Western Jobs’ and we will continue to work with them to stop these types of job-killing initiatives while putting forward legislation to bring jobs back to the West.
“Additionally, Congressional Western Caucus members Chairmen Mike Simpson and Rob Bishop should be applauded for their leadership on the ‘Wild Lands’ issue.
"As Chairman of the House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, Mike Simpson played a key role in defunding this dangerous initiative. Congressman Simpson and the House Appropriations Committee deserve the gratitude of all westerner job creators for leading the effort to prevent taxpayer funding of this job killing initiative.
“Chairman Rob Bishop must also be recognized for his tireless work in exposing Secretary Salazar’s effort to circumvent congressional authority to create de facto wilderness areas. As Chairman of the Public Lands Subcommittee, Rob Bishop was one of the earliest and most vocal critics of Secretarial Order 3310 and his vigorous oversight efforts should be applauded.”
The Wild Lands policy, established by Secretarial Order 3310, asserts that the Bureau of Land Management has the authority to “designate appropriate areas with wilderness characteristics under its jurisdiction as ‘Wild Lands’ and to manage them to protect their wilderness value.” The Wilderness Act of 1964 gives Congress the sole authority to designate public lands as Wilderness areas.
The Wilderness designation is the most restrictive land use policy that can be taken as it places severe limitations on public access to public lands. In addition to the impacts on jobs and the economy, many forms of popular recreation and access could be prohibited.
Section 1769 of the FY2011 CR states:
“none of the funds made available by this division or any other Act may be used to implement, administer, or enforce Secretarial Order No. 3310 issued by the Secretary of the Interior on December 22, 2010.”
“Implementation of the Secretarial Order would take hard-earned taxpayer dollars and put them toward a policy that would lock up millions of acres of public lands and destroy thousands of jobs. The creation of new de-facto wilderness throughout the West would be severely detrimental to state and local economies and create a paralyzing uncertainty for western communities. Since the time it was announced, elected officials throughout the West recognized it was essential that this proposal be halted in its tracks. With the passage of this CR, we do just that. [...]
“The provision to defund Wild Lands is a victory for Utah and all public lands states. I thank my colleagues on the House Appropriations Committee, including Rep. Mike Simpson, for recognizing that funding the Wild Lands policy would be a wasteful use of taxpayer dollars and government resources."
It's not often you see an organization that promotes a sector of major production agriculture praise a story in the New York Times.
Then again, it's not often the paper runs a story with the headline, "Rush to Use Crops as Fuel Raises Food Prices and Hunger Fears," which includes this quote:
“The policy really has to be food first,” said Hans Timmer, director of the Development Prospects Group of the World Bank. “The problems occur when you set targets for biofuels irrespective of the prices of other commodities.”
From the Pacific Legal Foundation:
Sacramento, CA; April 8, 2011: Attorneys with Pacific Legal Foundation today filed a lawsuit asking that the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) be ordered to start the process of dropping the valley elderberry longhorn beetle (VELB) from the U.S. Endangered Species Act list.
Filed in federal court in Sacramento, the lawsuit aims to compel FWS to take the first step toward delisting – i.e., issuing a "finding" on whether to move forward with the delisting process. A study by FWS several years ago indicated the beetle is not threatened, but FWS never followed up with a finding based on that study, so the delisting process has never gotten started. The case is North Sacramento Land Company v. Salazar.
Donor-supported Pacific Legal Foundation is the leading legal watchdog for limited government, property rights, and a balanced approach to environmental regulations. In this lawsuit, PLF attorneys represent – free of charge – a coalition of California landowners, businesses, farmers, and flood-control agencies harmed by unnecessary and unjustified ESA regulation of the VELB.
Plaintiffs include Levee District 1, Reclamation District 784, Butte County Farm Bureau, Solano County Farm Bureau, Yolo County Farm Bureau, Sacramento Valley Landowners Association, and North Sacramento Land Company.
Federal officials have stalled on their own recommendation to delist the VELB
and they failed to respond to a VELB delisting petition last year
These organizations – and others – petitioned FWS last year, asking it to issue a finding on the VELB. But it never responded – in spite of ESA’s requirement for a response within 90 days.
The VELB is found in California’s Central Valley, from southern Shasta County south to Kern County. In Sacramento, "critical habitat" designations include a zone in Sacramento between the Western Pacific railroad tracks and Commerce Circle, and areas along the south bank of the American River.
Although the VELB has been listed as "threatened" under the federal Endangered Species Act since 1980, in 2006 FWS completed a review as part of a settlement agreement in a case brought by PLF attorneys. It found the VELB should be taken off the ESA list. However, no action ensued. The FWS also has failed to respond to a petition, asking for the delisting process to begin, submitted last September by PLF attorneys for a broad coalition of farming organizations, flood-control districts, landowners, and businesses.
"This lawsuit is necessary to stop the federal government from stalling any longer in taking action on its own scientific recommendations with regard to the VELB," said PLF attorney Brandon Middleton. "The federal government is harming businesses, farmers, and the cause of economic recovery by keeping this species on the ESA list when it doesn’t need to be. The general public, and the interests of taxpayers, are also at risk, because costly, unjustified VELB mitigation rules impose major costs on flood control and reclamation agencies charged with building and maintaining levees."
The unjustified VELB listing complicates flood protection
"The federal government’s regulations for the VELB are imposing costly burdens on agencies responsible for flood control and drainage activities within the Sacramento Valley and Central California," said Middleton. "These agencies are required to divert scarce resources to provide ‘mitigation’ when their work impinges on this beetle’s habitat. So, by failing to drop the unjustified ESA listing of the beetle, the federal government is creating difficulties for the agencies charged with protecting us from flooding – and imposing additional burdens on taxpayers."
For instance, Yuba County’s Reclamation District 784 had to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for VELB "mitigation," for levee work outside of Marysville, and the permit process took a year.
Likewise, PLF has been told that the American River Flood Control District has a policy of not touching elderberry bushes with bases larger that one inch in diameter, on or around its levees.
In addition, in the Yuba County area, levee repairs reportedly were delayed more than six years at one point, because of concerns about VELB habitat. A VELB mitigation pond was dug near a levee in Arboga, and Rep. Wally Herger, R-Marysville, argued that it helped cause the levee’s failure in 1997.
VELB listing’s impact on the economy: harming landowners, farmers, and job creation
"Federal regulators ought to take pains to make sure their environmental rules are reasonable in the light of science," said Middleton. "Any unjustified rules must be pruned back so they don’t stifle economic recovery. Instead, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is actively hurting the economy – putting job-creating projects on the endangered list – by keeping its unjustified VELB regulations on the books."
Bob Slobe is a prime example of a business person who is blocked from proceeding with job-creating land use plans. Slobe’s North Sacramento Land Company owns property adjacent to American River Parkway and California Route 160 in Sacramento. The land is zoned for offices which he hopes to build. "But Bob Slobe can’t use his property because the federal government has been stalling on withdrawing its unjustified VELB listing," Middleton continued. "Mr. Slobe is prohibited from disturbing bushes where beetles live – unless he pays a massive sum of money to pay for relocation of the bushes to other property."
Over the years, Slobe’s parcel – vacant because of the federal VELB rules – has become a dumping ground and even camping ground for trespassers. Despite Slobe’s aggressive and continuous work to clean up the property, abandoned cars and bicycles, stolen copper wire, and dangerous waste, such as syringes, all turn up on the land.
Another example of problems for landowners and the larger public created by the VELB listing: Dubious pesticide restrictions – with potential economic harm for farmers and other landowners – were imposed because the listing. Last year, for instance, EPA entered into a settlement with environmental groups that restricts use of numerous pesticides in VELB habitat areas.
"The VELB listing distorts public policy and puts obstacles in the way of positive, productive use of private land," said Middleton. "In a real sense, everybody is hurt by this listing – and not even the beetle is really helped by it, because the government’s own science report says the beetle is not threatened or endangered. By failing to act on its own scientific findings, the Fish and Wildlife Service is failing in its duty to taxpayers, businesses, and the public at large. This is why we have no choice but to take the agency to court."
Plaintiffs: Farm groups, landowners, and water-related agencies harmed
by unnecessary regulations
In filing suit, PLF attorneys represent a number of organizations that are harmed, or have members who are harmed by, the continued, unnecessary classification of the beetle as "threatened," even when the federal government’s own study has concluded that the listing is unwarranted. The plaintiffs include:
Levee District 1 and Reclamation District 784 are among the agencies responsible for flood control and drainage activities within the Sacramento Valley. In recent years, the districts have spent significant amounts of money and labor in order to provide mitigation when their operations have impacts on the beetle and its habitat. Because of the beetle’s status as a threatened species, the districts are prevented from fully devoting their limited resources to their core missions of flood control, drainage, and irrigation management.
Sacramento Valley Landowners Association is a nonprofit organization of farmers and ranchers throughout California’s Sacramento Valley. SVLA members own, manage, or enjoy properties inhabited by or near the beetle and beetle habitat. Improper restrictions placed on land and water use due to the listing of the beetle as a threatened species have significant impacts on the ability of these individuals not only to continue to enjoy California’s wildlife and natural environment, but also their ability to sustain their livelihoods.
Butte County Farm Bureau is a nonprofit organization of farmers and ranchers throughout Butte County.
Solano County Farm Bureau is a nonprofit organization of farmers and ranchers throughout Solano County.
Yolo County Farm Bureau is a nonprofit organization of farmers and ranchers throughout Yolo County.
North Sacramento Land Company owns property adjacent to the American River Parkway and the California State Route 160 in Sacramento. For years, North Sacramento Land Company has desired to develop this property into commercial office space. However, the company is unable to develop this parcel due to its classification as critical habitat for the beetle. Simultaneously, the company incurs substantial maintenance and oversight costs in order to ensure that trespassers do not adversely affect beetle habitat within the parcel and subject the company to potential Endangered Species Act liability.
The lawsuit, titled North Sacramento Land Company v. Salazar, has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California. The complaint may be found at Pacific Legal Foundation’s website: www.pacificlegal.org.
...
[ Photo caption: Dinner cook John Mockles keeps ribeye steaks handy for orders at Vic's Branding Iron restaurant in Cottonwood, Calif. ]
With Earth Day coming April 22, the Cattlemen’s Beef Board is urging people to celebrate it by eating steak.
Cattle raised today require less land, water and energy than before and each serving provides nutrients essential to the diet, the board asserts.
From its press release:
Producers can be proud of so many things:For my story, check CapitalPress.com later in the week.
* About two-thirds of cattle farms and ranches have been in the same family for two generations or more.
* On average, each cattleman has 13 different practices in place to accomplish environmental goals such as nurturing wildlife, preventing erosion and conserving and protecting water.
* Thanks to smart practices, raising livestock in the United States today accounts for less than 3 percent of the country’s total greenhouse gas emissions.
Not only that, but the average American farmer feeds about 155 people worldwide, compared to 26 just a few decades ago. And experts estimate global food production will need to increase 70 percent by 2050 to feed a growing world population. Many experts agree U.S. livestock production practices are an environmentally sustainable solution for raising food and should be considered a model for the rest of the world.
“As we prepare to celebrate Earth Day, we’d like to remind beef and dairy producers to share their production story with everyone they know – family, friends, neighbors and even those they just met at the grocery store. We need to let them know that we’re proud cattle producers, providing 20 percent of the world’s iron-rich beef with just 7 percent of the cattle,” says Daryl Berlier Owen, chair of the checkoff’s Joint Public Opinion and Issues Management Group, and cow/calf producer from Amarillo, Texas. “That means people can enjoy a good steak as part of a healthy, balanced diet, knowing that it is being produced in such a way that’s good for their personal health and the health of the planet.”
From the California Rangeland Conservation Coalition:
The Pathways to Nature Program announces its second nature day event on April 2, 2011. The program will be hosted by ranchers Chet and Angela Vogt on the Three Creeks Ranch located in western Glenn County. Pathways to Nature is a school-sponsored event designed to give all fourth grade students attending Willows Murdock Elementary, William Finch Charter School and Elk Creek Elementary hands on experience with nature and natural resources.
The all-day event allows the students to connect what they are learning in the classroom with the natural environment. Every student will spend time learning about various aspects of the outdoors and the environment, from hydrology to plant identification. This year will also feature a new career opportunity station. The reaction from the students who have had the opportunity to attend last year’s event in 2010 was overwhelming, they left the ranch inspired.
“It is our hope as teachers involved in the program that the students will learn environmental and agricultural lessons that will last a lifetime on this day,” states Jill Egly, fourth grade teacher at Willows Unified School District. “This event is something that students work throughout the year in the classroom learning and this day, out on a ranch, they will experience it firsthand.”
Event host Chet Vogt states, “It is a pleasure to have more than 200 students visit our property. Each day, as a rancher, I have the opportunity to experience the outdoors, care for the environment and raise food that feeds my family and yours. It is my hope that other ranchers will join me in educating youth and will partner with other schools around the state to hosts similar events on their ranches.”
This is a community-driven event that includes a diverse array of partners including the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Glenn-Colusa CattleWomen, U.S. Forest Service, parents of students and other community organizations and individuals.
A press release from Republicans in Klamath County, Ore.:
The following resolution was unanimously passed by the Klamath County Republican Central Committee at its March 10, 2011 meeting:
“Moved that the Klamath County Republican Central Committee resolve to take on the charge and the focus, for the next two years, to rally all Republican Central Committees and all Tea Patriot groups and other appropriate groups in the Western United States to Reform the ESA, (the Endangered Species Act), so that farmers, ranchers, timber industry employees, fishing industry employees, mining employees and other employees can keep their jobs and make an acceptable living. And; so that economic growth, economic recovery and economic stability are given no less than equal status to non-human species.”
Klamath Republican Party leads the charge to reform the ESA
Never in our history, since the implementation of the ESA, has there been a more obvious need for a reform of the ESA. Earlier attempts have been made with no real success. The political climate across our nation is calling for this reform. Our local communities and our entire nation is being held hostage by the heavy handed, one-sided use of the ESA. There is a definite need for a watchdog advocate for our environment, but the ESA has become an out of control, rabid pit bull that needs to be contained. Our entire Nation is suffering from the effects of the ESA, from high fuel prices, loss of timber jobs, agriculture jobs, fishing jobs, mining jobs, development jobs and the list goes on and on. No one is immune from the negative effects inflicted on our citizens by the unanticipated use of the ESA. Our local budget crisis is a direct result of ESA collateral damage.
Our community can be united in this quest. We can survive, with a true balanced approach.
From the Pacific Legal Foundation:
Sacramento, CA; March 10, 2011: The federal government’s 2009 critical habitat designation for the green sturgeon must be withdrawn and reworked, says a lawsuit filed today by attorneys with Pacific Legal Foundation, representing San Francisco Bay Area business and landowners associations.
The suit points out that regulators illegally set aside vast areas as green sturgeon habitat, up and down the West Coast and in California’s Central Valley, without even considering economic impacts in some areas and without properly balancing economic considerations, in violation of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). In addition, the suit was brought because the government utterly failed to comply with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
Donor-supported PLF is the leading legal watchdog that litigates, without charge, for limited government, property rights, free enterprise, and a balanced approach to environmental regulations. In this lawsuit, PLF attorneys represent the Building Industry Association of the Bay Area and the Bay Planning Coalition, whose members are directly injured by the illegal government rule.
The case is Building Industry Association of the Bay Area and Bay Planning Coalition v. National Marine Fisheries Service. The complaint may be viewed at PLF’s website: www.pacificlegal.org. A PLF video on the case also may be viewed at PLF’s website.
"This critical habitat designation was not only illegal, it was reckless, because officials ignored the potential pain for the economy in many of the areas they designated as critical habitat," said Pacific Legal Foundation attorney Ted Hadzi-Antich. "As tens of millions of Americans struggle to find jobs, comfortable federal regulators designated much of the West Coast as critical habitat for the green sturgeon, while refusing to comply with economic balancing requirements in the ESA. The government’s failure to consider the appropriate economic criteria and tests for critical habitat designation under the ESA, and its failure to consider alternatives under NEPA, is, quite frankly, flat-out illegal."
"By definition, critical habitat designations curtail economic activity," Hadzi-Antich continued. "So common sense – and federal law – require regulators to show care, nuance, and balance in making these decisions, but the regulators did not do so in this case."
Green sturgeon critical habitat: More than 12,000 square miles at issue
The green sturgeon has been listed as a "threatened" species under the Endangered Species Act since April 7, 2006. The critical habitat designation for the green sturgeon was issued in its final form by the National Marine Fisheries Service on October 9, 2009, and it covers a vast area in the waters, shorelines, and land areas of California, Oregon, and Washington.
Included are:
1) Coastal U.S. marine waters within 60 fathoms depth from Monterey Bay, Calif. (including Monterey Bay), north to Cape Flattery, Wash., including the Straight of Juan De Fuca, Wash., to its U.S. boundary;
2) the Sacramento River, lower Feather River, and lower Yuba River in California;
3) the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and Suisin, San Pablo, and San Francisco bays in California;
4) the lower Columbia River Estuary; and
5) certain coastal bays and estuaries in California (Humboldt Bay), Oregon (Coos Bay, Winchester Bay, Yaquina Bay, and Nehalem Bay), and Washington (Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor).
In total, the final rule designates approximately 11,421 square miles of coastal marine habitat, 897 square miles of estuarine habitat, and 320 miles of freshwater riverine habitat.
"All responsible Americans care about environmental protection, including protecting the green sturgeon, but a careful, balanced approach is essential, so we don’t derail ourselves economically in the name of protecting the environment," said Hadzi-Antich. "Critical habitat designations have the effect of limiting productive uses of property. Because the harms to human beings can be significant, federal law requires regulators to carefully balance economic impacts against conservation goals before designating any area as critical habitat. The National Marine Fisheries Service simply refused to follow this legal requirement when it decided to set aside as green sturgeon habitat large swaths of territory they viewed as high value areas. In short, the government broke the law in its misguided efforts to implement it."
The Endangered Species Act requirement for considering human economic impacts is set forth at 16 U.S.C. section 1531, et seq.
Additionally, under NEPA (42 U.S.C. section 4332(2)(C)), the Environmental Impact Statement for any regulation that would "significantly affect[] the quality of the human environment" must include an assessment of alternatives to the regulatory action.
"Put simply, the regulators broke the law when they designated critical habitat for the green sturgeon," said Hadzi-Antich. "This lawsuit isn’t just about the importance of a balanced approach to economic regulations. It’s also about the rule of law: Government has to comply with the law, just like the rest of us."
Plaintiffs in challenging the feds’ failure to weigh the economic impacts
PLF attorneys represent two plaintiff organizations in this case.
The Building Industry Association of the Bay Area (BIABA), a nonprofit association of builders, contractors, and related trades and professions involved in the residential construction industry, is bringing this lawsuit on its own behalf and on behalf of its members. BIABA represents the interests of its members and the residential construction industry in areas of California improperly designated by Defendants as critical habitat under the final rules, including the San Francisco Bay Area and the Yolo and Sutter bypasses adjacent to the Sacramento River.
The ability of these owners and developers to use their properties is undermined by the critical habitat designation because of strict land use restrictions that are triggered for the affected property.
Paul Campos, senior vice president and general counsel for the BIABA, issued this statement:
"It is ironic that at a time when there is an emerging consensus that federal regulations must take into account the impact on jobs and economic health, here we have a federal statute that requires just that – yet it is being ignored and undermined by the very federal agency charged with implementing the law. We are fortunate PLF is there to help us fight against this type of illegal government activity and to give us our day in court. The livelihoods of many property owners and businesses are at issue."
The Bay Planning Coalition is a nonprofit membership-based organization whose mission is to ensure a healthy and thriving San Francisco Bay Area for commerce, recreation, and the natural environment. BPC represents the interests of, among others, businesses and property owners in the San Francisco Bay Area whose land has been designated as critical habitat under the final green sturgeon rules.
John Coleman, executive director of the Bay Planning Coalition, issued this statement: "The rules go way too far in designating critical habitat in vast areas without properly considering economic impacts. This legal action is necessary to make sure the government plays by the rules."
The short answer is, we don't know yet. There seems to be an assumption out there that, because of judge Ernest Goldsmith's smackdown of the California Department of Fish and Game's watershed-wide permits in the Scott and Shasta valleys, ranchers and other water users there are in big trouble. This may turn out to be the case, but for now, the focus is not on them but is on the DFG.
From my story Friday:
"With the lawsuit what we basically wanted to do was have (the DFG) go back to the drawing board and do the proper studies they needed to do to authorize more take in these watersheds," said Wendy Park, an attorney for Earthjustice. "It's really in the agency's hands."
Park declined to say whether the groups would begin targeting individual landowners.
Etna, Calif., rancher Jeff Fowle acknowledged there's a risk of such suits, but he said landowners have taken many measures to protect fish and have only diverted water in accordance with their adjudicated rights.
He expressed hope that Goldsmith's decision will cause Fish and Game to take a closer look at water-saving measures taken by landowners, such as replacing old wells with new ones in more strategic places and installing wheel and pivot irrigation devices.
Ranchers have put in Fish and Game-designed fish screens and permanent rock weir structures so they don't have to use push-up dams, Fowle said.
In adjudicating the instant case, the Court does not and should not seek a particular result. Rather, the court's primary goal is to protect the public and ensure all legal and legislative mandates are followed by informed public policy makers. The Court may not "substitute [its] judgment for that of the people and their local representatives. [It] can and must, however, scrupulously enforce all legislatively mandated CEQA requirements."
A determination of whether a landowner is violating the state's fish and game code is "not really cut and dry," Manji said, adding there are "several things the department needs to look at to determine whether or not a permit is required."
Some diversions in the Scott and Shasta valleys may not be considered significant, although most agricultural operations there "fall within the category of needing to at least consult with Fish and Game," he said.
That was Redding Record Searchlight editorial page editor Bruce Ross's response to my post over at Jefferson Journal regarding Michael Shaw, a critic of the United Nations who was a guest on a local radio talk show.
You can see or join the discussion here.
